Sutton High School is an independent school for girls aged 3–18 in

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. It is run by the

Girls' Day School Trust The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) is a group of 25 independent schools, including two academies, in England and Wales, catering for girls aged 3 to 18. It is the largest group of independent schools in the UK, and educates 20,000 girls each ye ...

(GDST). It was founded in 1884 by the then Girls' Public Day School Trust (GPDST), and was a

direct grant grammar school A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...

(some pupils having their fees paid by the local authority as in a state

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

) until this system was abolished in 1976. The first headmistress was Miss Margaret Whyte, and there were 80 pupils on the opening day, 17 January 1884. It has been listed in "Top 100 Independent School" Sunday Times Parent Power Guide, November 2011.

Buildings

The school's accommodation includes a mix of the purpose-built and the converted from a range of periods, and its oldest building predates the school's foundation in 1884. The school opened in a residential property, Park House, in Cheam Road, which was rented by the Girls Day School Company. By 1886 this had been extended on both sides. This group of buildings is still at the core of the school. In the period between the world wars the buildings were extended westward along Cheam Road, and in 1932 Suffolk House was acquired. The assembly hall was built in 1935, linking Suffolk House to the existing buildings. In 1930 Homestead House in the parallel Grove Road was acquired, to be followed by Hayes House and its neighbour, so that the school's grounds extended between the two streets. The Library was built in 1938, to the south of the core, and in 1959 the Lilian Charlesworth Room, named after a retiring headmistress, was added above it. Lilian Charlesworth had led the school from 1939. A new science and language block was opened in 1971 and a swimming pool in 1972. In the 1990s a new "Garden Building" was built, and the former Dene Hotel was bought and converted into a sixth form unit.

Notable former pupils

* Alice Embleton (1876–1960),

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zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

. *

Dora Russell Dora, Countess Russell (née Black; 3 April 1894 – 31 May 1986) was a British author, a feminist and socialist campaigner, and the second wife of the philosopher Bertrand Russell. She was a campaigner for contraception and peace. She worked ...

(born Dora Black, 1894–1986), author, feminist and progressive campaigner *

Phyllis Mudford King Phyllis Mudford King (23 August 1905 – 27 January 2006) was an English female tennis player and the oldest living Wimbledon champion when she died at age 100. Phyllis Evelyn Mudford was born in 1905 in Wallington, Surrey. She was educated at ...

(1906–2006),

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

ladies doubles winner 1931 *

Joan Hutt Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine * Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multip ...

(1913–85), artist *

Susan Howatch Susan Howatch (born 14 July 1940) is a British author. Her writing career has been distinguished by family saga-type novels which describe the lives of related characters for long periods of time. Her later books have also become known for their ...

(born 1940), author *

Helen Dunmore Helen Dunmore FRSL (12 December 1952 – 5 June 2017) was a British poet, novelist, and short story and children's writer. Her best known works include the novels ''Zennor in Darkness'', '' A Spell of Winter'' and ''The Siege'', and her last ...

(1952–2017), novelist and poet *

Ruth Kelly Ruth Maria Kelly (born 9 May 1968) is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1997 until she stood down in 2010. Previously, she served as the Secretary of State for Transport, ...

(born 1968), politician * Nikita Kanani (born 1980), Medical Director for Primary Care, NHS England and recipient of 2021 GDST Exceptional Contribution Award * Marianna Spring (born 1996), BBC journalist

House system

Since 2009 the school has had a house system. The four houses are named after women connected to the school: *

Dora Black Dora, Countess Russell (née Black; 3 April 1894 – 31 May 1986) was a British author, a feminist and socialist campaigner, and the second wife of the philosopher Bertrand Russell. She was a campaigner for contraception and peace. She worke ...

(1894–1986), author, feminist and campaigner, former pupil; granddaughter-in-law of Henrietta Stanley *

(1905–2006), tennis player, former pupil * Henrietta Stanley (1807–1895), campaigner for women's education and one of the founders of the GDST; grandmother-in-law of Dora Black *Frances West (1875–1969), the first SHS pupil known to have attended university (

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

), and later headmistress of St Winifred's and Raven's Croft schools in Eastbourne.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{authority control Independent girls' schools in London Schools of the Girls' Day School Trust Educational institutions established in 1884 Independent schools in the London Borough of Sutton Sutton, London 1884 establishments in England